Kicking off a series of favorite things that John and I come across throughout the week! We know this isn’t a new idea. Bloggers love to share Friday finds!

For us, we hope to give you a bit more insight into our day-to-day at Content and share with you things that bring us JOY - in whatever form that comes our way. Recipes, projects, music, TV, quotes, whatever.

FAVORITE EXTERIOR PROJECT

A while back on Instagram, I posed a question about purchasing white/ivory cushions. Mainly, “do you think they would be a nightmare to keep clean?” If you responded on Instagram, you were likely among the resounding {DON’T DO IT} voters. With that vote, I switched gears and started looking for an alternative.

My initial goal was to buy a sectional for the front porch, but was having stomach pains thinking about spending over $1k. Then, John and I started playing around with the existing furniture and realized we could make the space feel fresh, simply by rearranging what we had and adding a few new accessories.

I give John a lot of credit here. I was about to cave and hand over our credit card.

The existing chairs were a trash-day pick up, thanks to my Dad. I’d outfitted them with bargain cushions for the last two summers, and knew they had exceeded their life expectancy. Total pancakes!

I measured the chairs, and found these Slate Grey - far more substantial - water resistant cushions on Wayfair and scooped them up during the WayDay mega sale. Sadly, they’re out of stock, but I found these on Amazon that are seemingly the same, exact dimensions and color.

Before you buy, try to use what you have. Maybe give an old piece a fresh coat of paint, or just rearrange what you have. You might be just as surprised as I was, to get a new look, from the furniture you already had.

FAVORITE READ

This week, I picked up David Brooks’ new book The Second Mountain. I have enjoyed David Brooks since first hearing him on PBS “All Things Considered” and was excited to dive into his latest publication.

The basic premise of The Second Mountain is finding value in relationships over personal success - with the “first” mountain representing our personal goals and the “second” mountain representing the challenge of looking beyond ourselves and serving others (i.e. individuals, community, moral objectives).

Interestingly, this is a topic that I have been trying to embrace as part of my unofficial New Year’s resolution and though I haven’t finished reading it, I am really enjoying the fresh perspective!

Add it to your reading list! If you’re anything like me, having a couple books on the back burner is never a bad thing.

FAVORITE THRIFTED ITEM

In February 2018, John and I visited Guadeloupe. (Where the heck is that?) It’s a French Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles - here’s the Wiki because I bet you still don’t know what I’m talking about.

Guadeloupe might seem totally random… but while trying to start a family we limited our travels to places the CDC deemed Vika-free and Guadeloupe fit the bill.

Anyway, while we were there, we rented a scooter to explore the island, and we absolutely feel in love with the idea of having one at home. I started our search where I start all our searches; Craigslist.

Unfortunately, I started looking too late into the warmer weather, and all the used scooters seemed to have been scooped up. I put my scooter dreams on hold.

This March we traveled to Martinique, another French Caribbean island (yup, still trying for that baby) and the scooter bug started buzzing again (…bug, buzzing, bad reference with Zika in mind, I digress).

I answered a Craigslist ad for a 2017 TaoTao 49cc scooter, about 1.5 hours south of Content; asking price $475. It was a gamble traveling that far, especially for something used, but we are so happy we did.

Tim, who sold it to us was so kind, even knocking off $50 because we traveled so far to get it. If you’re ever in Sea Isle City look him up! He rents scooters hourly to visitors - Breeze Scooters.

So, welcome to Content “Philly” - named after Philadelphia where she lived her early, rambunctious years as a city bike, and will now enjoy her new life as a beach bum!

FAVORITE BLOOM

Forsythia! I absolutely love this time in New Jersey, and know it’s the start of spring when the forsythia bloom. Did you know, the forsythia is actually in the same family as the olive plant (Oleaceae) and as John so adamantly points out is not a native plant, but pretty nonetheless.

This beautiful image, taken by our talented friend Megan Khichi, is of her adorable daughter Fiona with the blooming forsythia. If this image doesn’t sum up the joy of springs, I don’t know what does!

If you love forsythia or seasonal accents in your home, check out our Spring Decorating Finds for Under $30 including the best faux forsythia that will look beautiful long after the real one’s fade away.

When John and I were working at our previous jobs, we’d catch up over dinner, asking each other, “what was the best and worst part of your day?” Just an easy conversation starter, and way to acknowledge the good and the bad that the day had brought our way.

As a way of acknowledging that not everyday is wonderful, and in an effort to find the silver lining, we’re also sharing our least favorite from the week.

LEAST FAVORITE

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is on everyone’s mind this week. People all over the world watched, with heavy hearts, as a fire ripped through the 850 year old church. This is certainly not a “favorite” this week but a historic moment nonetheless and one that we must take time to digest.

From that tragic event, John and I took a moment to reflect and realized that exactly 9 years ago, on Good Friday, we were enjoying Paris during the Easter holiday.

John was still teaching, and along with what seemed like EVERY other spring breaker, we made a visit to Notre Dame and were fortunate to see the Crown of Thorns which is believed to be all or part of the thorny crown Jesus wore during the crucifixion.

The experience was moving.

As a historic artifact, symbol of the Christian faith and connection to a wonderful memory, we were relieved to hear The Crown had been saved from the fire. To find the silver lining within such a tragic lose, we spent time together looking back at vacation photos that John turned into a wonderful photo book.

Comment below. Did you come across any of our Friday Favorites as well this week? We’d love to hear your feedback on our new weekly series!

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